DAY 14: History Hijnks

It was back again! The same feeling of excitement I had when I was browsing through the magazines at the Serials section. Even if I only had a whiff, more specifically, two hours, of how it feels like to be an archivist at the University Records, it was enough to make my heart skip and my lips smile. Today is sort of bittersweet as I would be enjoying my day with the records as it is also my last day at the archives. 

JULY 05, 2017 - WEDNESDAY

Upon entering the premises, I was greeted by a figure I haven't mentioned before, he is an intern as well although not from our class. I have seen him before at the reference and now, it looks like he would be joining me in the records. We decided to divide a box's contents for the two of us. Once this has been settled, we put on our gloves and mask then resumed working. 

I can't gloss over enough how happy I was at this section. Looking from the outside, you would see a mundane sight of a guy sorting papers and removing staplers but in my perspective, it is one of the most exciting things I have ever done. We were given the prerogative to decide whether a material is for temporary or for permanent storage at the university records and those that are temporary would be returned to their units. As I have mentioned before, LIS 170 really did play a big role in my decision-making. I was enjoying myself too much that again I had not noticed that it was almost lunch time. 

I forgot to mention that yesterday night, Ma'am Annie messaged me that she would give the homework she promised today which is why at lunch time, I headed to the cataloging section where the three of us were given the assignments as well as a guide on how to do it. She gave us the deadline of until next Friday but I'm thinking of doing it this weekend. 

Upon returning to my station, I delved myself once again into the history of UP. Both widely-known and unheard of, it was quite a journey to go through the papers and read the different memorandums and requests of different people at that time (most of the papers I processed were from the 80s). It was also interesting to read complaints and even termination letters as it gives me an idea of how UP life was different almost 40 years ago. I can't help but think how fast time flies by and those who were writing letters to the Chancellor when they were in their 20s, like I am today, would be sixty by now. 

Reading through their stories paint a scenery of a different time and it makes me feel a bit excited yet terrified of how quick time passes by because it only seemed like a blink of an eye and were already old. Although it wasn't always sad, it was also entertaining when I got to read about the mischiefs of students during those time. Even history has its hijinks. By the end of the day, I was able to sort out three boxes of documents. 

Reading Through Them Was Fun

Speaking of time passing by quick, we are now officially done with the archives! Only two stations left and we are done!

Let's just see if the ISAIS would be as fun!

- Sam, That New Librarian